Top 9 reasons why Danish food isn’t just smørrebrød, seasonal berries & herbs, but can be awfully tasty!

I love being a British European!

And luckily for you, I’m not daunted or scared by the terrors of mad men!

As such, last week  began…

Drum rolls please….

VICTORIA’S SUMMER EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CAMPAIGN!

Every weekend, through the summer holidays, I’m going to be visiting a European city.

Every weekend!

For six (6) weeks.

Last week, the first place that I went to was Copenhagen in Denmark!

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The sun was shining, the people were lovely, and even though I missed my coach-bus connection and spent double the amount of money that I hadn’t budgeted, I very much enjoyed visiting Copenhagen!

It has to be said that even though this blog is about culture, history, and travels around the world, I also enjoy writing about food. Here are food posts that I wrote in the past:

BELGIUM:

• 10 reasons why Nord-Pas de Calais otherwise known as Northern France, is more than just stinky cheese and a paté made from goose!

THE CZECH REPUBLIC:

• I didn’t kiss a girl but I ate fried cheese in the Czech Republic. And I liked it!

ENGLAND:

• Have you ever been to Bristol – Let’s eat & drink ’till the cows come home!
• London Calling: How to eat and drink for under £25 or $30 a day (including the service charge)!!
• To be or not to be? That isn’t a question, that’s the Queen’s dinner & A Night Out with William Shakespeare!

ESTONIA:

• A simple guide to Estonian food and Russian beer!

FRANCE:

• 10 reasons why Nord-Pas de Calais otherwise known as Northern France, is more than just stinky cheese and a paté made from goose!

FINLAND:

• Helsinki is the capital of Art Design so how was it that I went to Finland, and ended up with sushi!

GERMANY:

• 10 surprising reasons why food in Germany isn’t just grit and stodge but is pretty awesome, in my opinion!
• An introduction to the international kitchen of Berlin. Go on. You know you want to. Go on. Go eat the world!

HUNGARY:

• If you’re looking to go to a new European city then Budapest is surprisingly nice. And the food is Hungarian but really Turkish. And Italian too!

LATVIA:

The magic drink of Latvia is basalm and I drank it!

LITHUANIA:

• We had a pig’s ear in Lithuania and it was chewy!

POLAND:

• The food of Poland and how much I have to eat!
• The secret of eating & drinking in Warsaw – How to make pierorgi and eat it!

PORTUGAL:

• 7 remarkable things to eat & drink in Portugal!

SCOTLAND:

• Haggis, tatties and neeps: 10 things to do in Edinburgh. 
• A wee drab of whisky is just the thing to make you itch!

SPAIN:

• Spanish food & how to eat it! Spanish plonk & how to drink it!
• Oh what fun! Tapas, Sangria and a food walking tour in Madrid!

THAILAND:

• Thai food is going to kill you: Eat it or die!
• Thai food is going to kill you: Cook your own!

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Nom! Nom! Nom!

So without further ado, let’s talk about Danish food otherwise known as Nordic food!

Here we go!

WHAT IS DANISH FOOD, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS NORDIC FOOD!?

I’m from England and I live in Germany. Both countries are in Northern Europe.

Northern Europe consists of Iceland, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Belarus, North-West Russia, and Greenland.

Nordic food is defined as food developed in the Nordic countries and Scandinavia.

Nordic countries are countries in the geographical and cultural region of Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, otherwise known as Norden or “The North!” These countries would be Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including their associated territories – Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Åland Islands.

Scandinavia is defined as a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by ethno-cultural North Germanic heritage.  Such countries would be Denmark, Norway and Sweden!

In fact, I found that even though I couldn’t understand the Danish language, I could understand it when I read it, as it’s somewhat similar to German, as is the Dutch language. In Holland!

Nordic countries are similar in their way of life, history, language and social structure as well as weather!

In 2004, these countries have come together to promote what is known as New Nordic Cuisine.

New Nordic Cuisine is food that promotes local, natural and seasonal produce, using local ingredients, in combination with traditional food, prepared in new ways and preservation techniques such as drying, fermenting, smoking, salting, pickling and preserving meat, vegetables, fruits and fish, that have for centuries enabled people to survive the long, dark winters of the Nordic region!

The person who put Nordic food on the international map was René Redzepi – the founder and brain behind NOMA – the world’s best restaurant located in an 18th century waterfront building in Christianshavn, on the other side of the harbor!

It is No. 1 on the list of “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” unseating the El Bulli restaurant in Spain, causing a media frenzy, and initiating more than 100,000 reservation requests within just a few days!

I first got to know about NOMA whilst watching a food documentary – Noma – My Perfect Storm – as a press hack at this years’ Berlin International Film Festival, otherwise known as the Berlinale!

René is that man who turned Danish food upside down, and invented and popularized the idea of Nordic cuisine, taking what was originally just a pastry, bread and cod nation, into the path of international gastronomy and cuisine!

My! Danish food has changed!

When thinking of Danish food, one doesn’t think of a Northern Europe hearty warm meal filled with the coziness of mashed potatoes, cabbage, and a pie! washed down with a keg of frothy beer.

Oh dear me no!

One thinks of a barren remote wasteland. A place of isolation. A territory where nothing grows, except for such delights as seafood, bread and salted cod, accompanied by stolen wine drunk in skulls, and some sort of home-made vodka!

However, Danish food has been upgraded and revitalized.

Here we go!

TOP 9 REASONS WHY DANISH FOOD ISN’T JUST SMORREBROD, SEASONAL BERRIES & HERBS!

The Nordic Food Movement has introduced a rediscovery of ingredients, creative adaptation of raw materials, new approaches to traditional techniques, and a way to integrate food and natural flavour into todays’ healthy organic gourmet hipster lifestyle!

Here are nine (9) reasons why:

SEAFOOD such as:

• raw razor clams with parsley jelly, buttermilk snow and horseradish
• lobster
• turbot roe and vinegar dust
• mussels with buttermilk and green strawberries
• lumpsucker roe
• Danish Fjord Shrimp
• cod
• pike
• herring

MEAT such as:

• hand-sliced beef tartar served with crushed juniper and a tarragon emulsion
• grouse breast with blueberry sauce
• a venison sandwich with bacon, chestnut creme fraiche, and lingonberry jam
• fried bacon with ramsons and grilled cucumber
• curls of raw, bright-red semi-frozen veal
• fried chicken liver with beetroot tartar
• tartare of musk ox
• roast leg of lamb
• rabbit

SAVOURY DISHES such as:

• puffin eggs
• blodpølse or black pudding
• finker or Danish haggis!
• creamy pearl barley with St. George’s mushrooms, pickled onions and grated cheese
• Lindström patties with pickled beets, capers, horseradish and chives, served with pan‑fried potatoes and mangetout
• Potato and leek soup with lumpfish roe and sour cream
• hokkaido soup with parsley oil and honey roasted pumpkin seeds
• nettle soup
• rye beer chips with chive skyr

FRUIT such as:

• ramson shoots and buds
• salsify flowers
• parsley jelly
• horseradish
• chamomile
• pine needle
• dried algae powder
• oyster plant
• cicely

DESSERT such as:

• blueberry mousse with lemon foam
• kladdkaka or Swedish chocolate cake
• cookies layered with veal speck and dried currant garnished with single fresh pine buds!
• savory Æbleskiver or aebleskiver pancake puffs dusted with vinegar powder and served with pickled cucumber marmalade
• rødgrød med fløde or red groats
• rhubarb merengue
• Skyr panna cotta with berries and liquorice
• Flødeboller or teacake
• skumbananer or banana flavoured marshmallow covered in chocolate!

DRINKS such as:

And let’s not forget of course:

Danish lakrids or Danish Liquorice!

Top 9 reasons why Danish food isn’t just smørrebrød, seasonal berries & herbs, but can be awfully tasty!

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This article is not sponsored, and all opinions about charming tasty Danish Nordic food on a smørrebrød, or any other brød, are my very own!

Throughout the summer month of August, all the museums in Berlin will be open each and every day! This will conclude with the bi-annual Die Lange Nacht der Museen otherwise known as the Long Night of Museums taking place on 27.8.16 from 6p.m. in the evening ’till 2a.m in the morning!

I’ll be attending an Exclusive Food Tour with Fork & Walk on Wednesday, August 10th organised by the Berlin Chapter of Travel Massive.

Mexico Week at KaDeWe will take place from 15.08.16 – 03.09.16, to introduce Mexico’s culinary diversity. Mexican food producers will present authentic foods, beverages and ingredients, many of them available in Germany, for the very first time!

I’ll be attending a media walkthrough on 18.08.16. Holaaaaa!

The Pop Kultur Festival is a new festival based in hipster Neukölln, over three (3) exciting days of new international and German bands, live concerts, performances, talks and reading, taking place from 31.08.16 – 02.09.16.